Day Off
by Joe Coool
Summary: Shikamaru's and Temari's schedules are full to the brim just before their day off. How will they spend their time once their work is done?


"Why does Tsunade always give me so much work before my day off?" Shikamaru groaned as he walked up the steps to a rooftop with a covered bench. He sat down, laid his head back and began to watch the clouds go by, as he always did. It was something that he always enjoyed doing, from when he was a young student in the academy to now. Although his schedule had become crammed full of meetings, appointments, and other engagements, he still found the time for him to watch the clouds. It was a relaxing pastime; he exerted no effort in doing so, and his mind was calm.

"I thought I would find you here," he heard a female voice call out to him. Propping himself up, he gazed into the eyes of Temari, the fan-toting kunoichi from Suna. The two had been dating for some time now, and Temari had taken what could be called a permanent residence in Konoha; still acting as liaison between the two great nations, but spending her free time with her boyfriend and other acquaintances in Konoha.

"How did you know?" Shikamaru asked sarcastically as he made room for her on the bench. Temari smiled and sat down next to him, leaning back and holding her body up with her hands.

"What is it that you find so interesting about cloud watching anyway?" she asked, curious as to the motive behind his hobby. For as long as she had known him, he would spend his free time sprawled out on the ground watching the clouds go by, but had never completely understood it herself. Was it because he was lazy? Or was there something more?

Shikamaru chuckled at the request and propped himself up to her level. He was surprised that it had taken her this long to ask him, though this had given him time to figure it out for himself. For the longest time, he merely watched them without knowing the reason; he just found it enjoyable. Eventually, he began to question why he enjoyed doing it so much, and finally came to an answer. "Took you long enough to ask," he teased.

"I wanted to see if I could figure it out first," she explained.

"Well, I don't blame you. I didn't know why I did it for a while also. 'What is so interesting about watching suspended water vapor float by in the sky?' After a while, though, I figured it out." With that, he pointed at a random cloud. "Do you see how that cloud is separated from the others?"

"Yea… What about it?"

"That cloud is free from the rest of the group. Because it is away from the rest of the group, it has the opportunity to take whatever shape it wants. Now, all of the clouds over there," he continued as he pointed to a large gathering of clouds, "are close together, and do not have the freedom to look however they want. They are forced to take a shape depending on what everyone else looks like; they don't really have much say in the matter."

"That's why you watch clouds?" Temari asked, thinking she began to understand the subject.

"Nah, I just made that up off the top of my head."

"Wha- I thought you said you knew-"

"I do know. That was just one example." Temari looked at him with a look of confusion etched across her face, so Shikamaru asked her, "What do you see in that cloud?"

Temari looked up at the clouds and began to process what she saw. "I see… a large group of clouds… and a lonely, outcast cloud… The solitary cloud wants to join the larger group, but the group won't let it in…"

"See? You just did the same thing that I did."

"Wait, what?"

"You looked at the clouds and added your own interpretation to them."

"What about it?"

"Those clouds reminded you of Gaara, I presume."

Temari froze. "How did you know that's what I was thinking about?"

Shikamaru lay back down on the seat before continuing. "The reason that I enjoy watching clouds is that my mind will make me see what it wants me to see. In general, what I see can pertain to a situation that I'm in, or something that is subconsciously bothering me. You saw that single cloud as a reject; similar to Gaara's and Naruto's situation when they were younger. Your mind brought it up because you still feel bitter about it."

Temari was astonished. 'I never knew that there was so much behind his cloud watching,' she thought to herself.

"It's relaxing, which is especially nice after a long day," Shikamaru continued, "and it lets your mind go free."

Temari looked back up at the clouds in amazement. As the sun was going down, the dying sunlight illuminated the clouds with shades of yellow, orange, and red; with a blue backdrop behind all of it. She looked at one particular cloud and smiled. "Shikamaru, what does that cloud look like to you?" she asked, pointing to the cloud.

Shikamaru sat up and carefully examined the cloud. "Hmm… Well, I would have to say it looks like a… I don't know, a raccoon? What do you see?"

Temari merely smiled as she laid her left hand on his right shoulder, pushing him down until he was laying down with her body draped over his. Supporting herself with her right arm, she brought her face close to his and whispered, "Sorta like this…" before kissing him lightly.

The broke the kiss after a few seconds, and Shikamaru looked at his girlfriend's face, a look of triumph clearly showing. "Troublesome woman," he whispered before bringing her lips back to his.

* * *

The clouds turned from a sea of yellows and reds to more of a burnt orange before dimming; day giving way to night, the pale light illuminating the town below. Temari and Shikamaru had walked home beneath paper lamps lighting the streets, moths flying around them in a futile attempt to achieve some unknown goal. When the couple had gotten home, Shikamaru had taken his and Temari's coats and hung them up, while Temari started to take a shower, washing the day's toils off of her body in a stream of hot water. Shikamaru took his hair out of the ponytail he wore, only to tie it back more loosely. He walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of grey fabric pajama pants. He changed into them before allowing himself to flop down onto the bed and rest his hands behind his head. As he stared at the ceiling, his mind wandered through the entirety of his and Temari's relationship. To think, it had all started with one little kiss beneath a streetlamp. At that time, he wasn't very interested in finding a woman. His mind echoed the words his father had told him after first meeting Tsunade, who had just become the 5th Hokage.

_"Shikamaru, listen to me," he said as he continued walking. "There wouldn't be any men if there weren't any women. Men are no good without any women around."_

'I know that much,' Shikamaru had thought to himself as he walked behind his father. But what his father had said next was what really stuck in his mind.

"Even the roughest woman is tender to the guy she loves," he had said. "You'll understand when you get older."

Shikamaru laughed to himself at this comment. 'What is he saying?' he thought. 'He's always getting bossed around by mom…'  
  
Thinking back, though, Shikamaru realized that, like so many other times before, his father was right. Even though she could be one of the most aggressive women on the face of the planet, she could also be quite caring and nurturing towards him. He could remember a time when he wanted nothing to do with the 'troublesome woman', as he so-called her (and still does to this day, though now more playfully than anything else); now, he couldn't imagine his life without her.

A bar of light flashed across his face before disappearing. Shikamaru looked up to see the door to the bathroom open, with Temari standing in the doorway. She had just turned off the bathroom light and turned around to face him. As she entered the room, the soft pale glow of the moon illuminated her face in a heavenly, angelic aura as she seemed to glide across the floor. Her bathrobe hung daintily from her slender shoulders; Shikamaru noticed that, although the robe still covered her body, the two strips of fabric used to hold the sides together were dangling loosely on either side of her hips. Shikamaru got up off of the bed and, assuming it was his turn to take a shower, made for the bathroom. Before he passed her, Temari sidestepped into his path, stopping him. He looked questioningly at her before she began to advance, forcing him to take one step back for every one of hers forward. His calves hit the base of the bed, and he fell backwards onto the mattress. Temari slowly lowered herself to the same level as her now helpless boyfriend and draped her body over his. She took her fingers and let them travel over his skin, starting at his wrist and traveling up his arm, across his shoulders, and to his neck before lightly dragging themselves down his chest. Shikamaru smirked and gently lifted her lips to his, engaging a passionate kiss between the two. He gently pushed the sides of her bathrobe open before she allowed the garment to be shrugged from her shoulders and fall to the floor, revealing Temari in a pair of pink silken pants and a lacy bra. Shikamaru rolled her over onto the bed and began to kiss the newly-exposed skin on her neck, shivers traveling down his spine as she voiced her consent. Temari grabbed his hair and pulled him in for another passionate kiss; licking his lips, demanding entrance. Shikamaru granted her 'request'; he didn't have much of a choice, but he didn't mind. As their tongues mingled and they held their bodies together as one, Shikamaru deftly threw the sheets over the two. The moon lit the room with its soft, romantic pale glow as the two showed each other the extents of their love.

* * *

Morning found its way into the bedroom. The piercing yellow rays of the sun shone in Shikamaru's eyes, making him squint in his sleep before being shaken out of it. He opened his eyes and saw Temari sleeping peacefully, her head resting on his chest. Just as he was taking in how beautiful she looked, she too woke up from the sunlight. She slowly opened her eyes, looked up, and gazed into his. Shikamaru smiled and kissed her forehead before giving her a light hug. She smiled back and nestled into his shoulder. Shikamaru's eyes roamed her face; somehow, seeing her happy and content made him feel happy. As he lay with her head gently moving up and down with his breaths, he knew that he was lucky to have someone as beautiful and caring as her. And today, on his day off, he would show her just how much he loved her.


End file.
